


Aftermath

by Scotie_chan



Category: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson
Genre: Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-07
Updated: 2018-09-07
Packaged: 2019-07-08 02:51:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15921312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scotie_chan/pseuds/Scotie_chan
Summary: Utterson's not taking it too well.Understandable.





	1. Grave

_Here Lies Dr. Henry Robin Jekyll. His Absence Shall Always Be Felt._

Half of that statement was true.

Utterson, as he stared down at those words, wondered how Jekyll would have felt, seeing his name engraved on the gray tombstone above the body of someone else. Neither man had left no instructions on what what was to be done with the remains, just what was to be done with Jekyll’s his estate, and that statement, which Utterson kept neatly folded in his inner jacket pocket.

Utterson, as he stared down at those words, reached into his pocket and removed said explanation. He unfolded it gently, held it up to the light of the setting sun, and read it over for the million time.

‘ _Henry._ ’ he thought, ‘ _Oh, God, Henry…_ ’

A hand was placed on his shoulder.

“Gabriel.” his cousin’s voice rang out.

Utterson lowered the paper and turned around.

“Oh, Richard…” he said.

“It’s getting late.” Enfield said, “We should get you home.”

Utterson wrinkled his brow, then shook his head, and looked back to the engraved stone.

“I can’t just leave him to the body snatchers.” he said, whilst gently folding up that letter and sliding it back into his jacket, “Not after all I’ve paid to keep this secret untold.”

Enfield sighed, then motioned to the cast iron bars over the marble slab laying before the tombstone.

“I’ve seen similarly protected graves open wide and empty.” Utterson said.

Enfield sighed again, then reached up a hand to rub his forehead.

“Gabriel,” he said, “for God’s sake, have y-”

Utterson didn’t hear the man finish that sentence.

For some reason his cousin’s voice cut off, along with the rest of the sounds of the city around them, to be replaced by a muffled, clearly frightened, growly voice, pleading to Utterson, “Mercy!”

“Oh, God!” Utterson cried out.

The poor lawyer felt his strength vanish. His knees gave out and he fell to the ground, catching himself on his hands.

“Gabriel!” Enfield called out.

He knealed down beside his cousin and grabbed his shoulder.

Utterson let out and ugly sob, shutting his watery eyes as he did so.

“I killed him, Richard!” he cried out, “I got Henry Jekyll killed!”

Enfield grimaced, then pulled his cousin’s arm around him, and lifted them both to their feet.

“Let me take you home,” he said, “please.”

Utterson pushed him away.

“No!” he cried out, “I can’t leave him!”

Enfield sighed again, then reached out and grabbed his cousin’s wrist and began pulling away.

Utterson attempted to pull himself free, but Enfield just tightened his grip and pulled on him harder.

“Do not make me dislocate your arm.” Enfield warned him.

Utterson went still, and sighed.

“I’m acting like a child, aren’t I?” he asked.

“I suppose you have the right to be.” Enfield responded.

Utterson looked away.

“If I must go,” he said, “I’d like to make a stop somewhere first.”


	2. Door

“That God Forsaken door.” Enfield said when he realized where Utterson was leading him, “Why on earth would you ever want to go anywhere near that door, Gabriel?”

Utterson gave no response. He walked in silence.

He stopped before the two steps leading up to the plain, bare, wooden door that stood in the plain, gray, stone building, and just stared up at it.

The world around him did not stop. The street was loud with the calls of street vendors, the whistles of bobbies, and the hoofbeats and neighs of horses accompanying the sound of wooden wheels against cobblestone streets. A barefooted child in rags sat curled up in the corner between the steps and the wall, and she looked up at Utterson with a confused expression. 

Utterson paid none of this any mind.

‘ _ How many nights did I watch this door for a glimpse of that man? _ ’ he asked himself, ‘ _ Would it have changed anything if I had spent one less? _ ’

He sighed, then shook his head, and turned away form the door, back to his cousin who stood a few feet away, looking down at his shoes.

“I don’t know why I wanted to come here.” he said, “Let's just go.”

He started walking again.

“Gabriel!” a voice called out to him, it was a warm voice that made him stop dead in his tracks. It was a voice he knew, but not his cousin’s.

Utterson turned around, eyes wide, and looked back to the doro, half expecting to find it open wide.

“Gabriel?” Enfield asked, stopping as well.

The door remained shut, the owner of that voice he knew so well nowhere in sight.

Utterson shook his head, then reached up a hand to wipe a way a tear in his sleeve.

“Nothing.” he said, “Let’s go.”


End file.
